ASIAN LITERATURE

Asia is known to be the most populous and largest continent of the

planet. Asia is a cradle of the human race, world religions and
civilization which is composed of a widespread variety of ethnic
groups, diverse cultures, environments, economics, historical linkages,
and varied governmental systems making it rich in written literature.
Asian literature refers to the literature that was written over a
period of thousands of years, in a variety of countries in Asia. Asian
literature encompasses East Asian literature that includes Chinese,
Japanese and Korean literature; Central Asian literature comprising of
Bengali, Indian, Pakistani and Tamil literature; West Asian Literature
that covers Arabic literature, Persian literature and Turkish literature
and South East Asian Literature that is comprised of literature of the
Philippine, Indonesian, Singaporean, Burmese, and Thai literature.
 The study of the massive amount of Asian literature as a
whole requires the aggregation of literature under specific
headings. Asian literature can be divided into a host of different
labels, categorized according to religion, zone, region, ethnic
group, literary genre, historical perspective or language of
origin.
Though throughout the centuries a vast amount of Asian
literature has been written, most of Asian literature can be
broadly categorized as lyric, drama or narrative. The literary
type of Asian writing was usually determined by the
surrounding culture of the time and often expresses the
ideologies prevalent in the era.
Some researchers choose a straightforward division of Asian literature,
categorizing the mass of literature under Chinese, Japanese and Indian
literature based on the longevity and influence of the literary traditions
of these countries.
Much of Indian literature was originally written in Sanskrit, the Indic
language of Hinduism and the Vedas, the religion's sacred texts. Sanskrit
lyric poetry can be further categorized into three genres, fragmentary
lyric, narrative lyric and dramatic lyric. Most Sanskrit poetry stems from
anthologies of lyrics that were compiled in medieval India from earlier
sources.
Another large section of Indian literature is written in Tamil, a language
that is spoken mainly in southeastern India. The earliest Tamil poetry
was written between 100 BCE and 250 CE. These poems were later
anthologized in The Ettutokai and the Pattuppattu.
Though Hindi was not accepted as an appropriate language for literature, as it was
overshadowed by Sanskrit, classic religious poems were written in this language as
early as the fifteenth century. Between the fifteenth and seventeenth century a
collection of bhakti poetry emerged. Bhakti refers to the devotion and relationship
that a person has with God.
The ghazal is a form of lyric poetry written in Urdi, an Indic language that is the
literary language of Pakistan. The ghazal can be compared to the sonnet, since both
are about the same length and are usually romantic and introspective.
Modern Indian literature includes the many works of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-
1940). Despite the sheer mass of his writings, his works are less known because of
the language in which they were written, Bengalese. The eight novels and short
stories of Anita Desai's have earned her international acclaim. They give voice to
characters other than adult male protagonists, such as women, children, adolescents
and the elderly. Other prominent Indian authors include Premchand who was most
notably known for his short stories and Salman Rushdie, known for his Midnight's
Children and for the backlash to his Satanic Verses that was published in 1988.
Different than Indian literature, Chinese literature does not include epic
poetry. Most of their literature focuses on everyday events, such as the
prevalent agricultural society.
Chinese literature includes the revered text, The Book of Songs. It is a
collection of 305 poems. Some believe that Confucius himself compiled
the collection, though there are texts that state that the collection was
assembled by the officials of the Zhou dynasty.
The Chuang Zu is one of the fundamental texts of Taoism. The text had a
profound influence on Chinese thought and literature. It is a collection of
writings that was compiled in the second century BCE. The Records of
the Historian is a prominent historical work in Chinese literature. It was
written in classical Chinese by Sima Qian, who is a symbol of heroism in
Chinese culture. Another work of Chinese literature is The Journey to the
West, which is a narrative regarding the expedition of a Buddhist master
to India in quest of holy scriptures.
Modern Chinese literature includes the works of Lu Xun who published two
volumes of stories in 1923 and 1926. Lu was one of the most distinguished Chinese
novelists of the 1930s. He wrote the Camel Xiangzi in 1937, depicting the
degradation of a rickshaw puller in a society devoid of justice.
Japanese literature includes the Man'yoshu, one of the greatest collections of
Japanese poetry. The latest poem in the anthology was dated 759. It compiler is
unknown, though there are some who believe that it was the work of Otomo no
Yakomochi.
Other Japanese authors include Matsuo Basho (1644-94) a noted haiku writer and
Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote the Tale of the Genji. That book was written in the
eleventh century and marriage.
Modern Japanese authors include: Tanizaki Junichiro who wrote a twenty-eight
volume body of work; Enchi Fumiko who was known as the most prominent
female Japanese writer of her time; Abe Kobo who wrote his sensational Suna no
onna novel in 1962, and Kawabata Yasunari who was a Nobel Prize laureate for
literature.